


Mending

by Musical_Fandom



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Imagine if Metaverse injuries worked like real ones, Near Death Experiences, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Canon Compliant, Serious Injuries, Short One Shot, Technically everyone is there, They just aren't mentioned/don't have lines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:20:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28796034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musical_Fandom/pseuds/Musical_Fandom
Summary: A particularly bad hit from a shadow leaves Crow with a worse injury than normal.
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro & Persona 5 Protagonist, Akechi Goro & Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Kudos: 19





	Mending

A blow to the stomach disoriented Akechi and sent him to the ground. A critical hit. His head swam as he tried to fight through the pain. He wasn't sure if he was dizzy or if it was just the shock of being knocked down, one was preferable to the other. Even with the Thieves at his side, he didn't like to rely on others for help.

Akechi looked up just in time to see the shadow use its additional turn to attack Fox. Fox managed to deflect the physical move in a way that Akechi had never quite managed to replicate. Such an ability would be useful for solo excursions into the metaverse but he would die before he asked Fox to teach him.

One swift strike with his dagger was all Akira needed to take down the weakened shadow. Once the battle was over Akechi climbed to his feet. The pain was still present but he wasn't injured enough to warrant healing. Even with a critical hit, one pitiful shadow from Mementos could hardly do much damage so he pushed through the persistent pain in his stomach.

The drive to the next platform was miserable. Akechi sat in the back of the car between Fox and Panther. Joker's fast driving and sharp turns combined with the bumpy road were enough to make him feel nauseous. That along with the pain which still hadn't gone away left Akechi feeling terrible. Still, he didn't see a point in whining about it. It was nothing he couldn't handle.

"Hey Crow, are you feeling okay?" Panther gave a pitying look that made him want to vomit even more.

"I'm just... carsick." He lied.

When Joker crashed the car into an unsuspecting shadow, the impact made everything feel much worse than before. Everything was spinning when Akechi took his spot in the battle. It was hard to focus on the shadows in front of them.

"Crow's dizzy! He won't be able to hit them like that!" Oracle called from above.

Akechi watched as Joker wasted his first turn casting Amrita Drop on him. The world stilled for a moment only for the dizziness to come back in full force. 

"Huh? Joker, it didn't work. Crow's still dizzy!" Confusion and concern were evident in Oracle's voice. "Guys I think something's wrong!"

Akechi ignored her and took his turn. "Robinhood!" He yelled. Immediately he felt a sharp pain in his head. It took considerable effort but he pushed past it and managed to summon Robinhood. Maintaining his form was much more difficult than it should have been. Akechi could feel himself swaying as he tried to concentrate on the enemies so he could just _hit them with something._

"Crow's health is dropping!"

Oracle's voice sounded further away than before. Darkness creeped at the edge of Akechi's vision. The world turned into a messy blur of reds and greys which made it impossible to aim. Akechi tried to close his eyes to get the world to stop spinning but it didn't help. He felt his legs give out as his mask reappeared on his face. Akechi became distantly aware of the panicked voices that seemed to be getting further and further away from him. The last thing he felt before he lost consciousness was the pain in his stomach that had grown agonizing.

Akechi woke up in a daze. As he looked around he saw the worried faces of the people he was supposed to betray. It took him a moment to realize that _he_ was the reason. He smothered the uncomfortable feelings that were starting to form. Of course they were worried for his safety, they didn't know how capable he was. Besides, it would bring unecessary suspicion onto them if he died while on their team.

"What happened?" He asked. His voice wasn't as smooth as he'd meant but it was fine.

"During that last fight your health started going down like crazy!" Oracle's hands flew out in exaggerated gestures. "It was really weird because the shadows didn't even touch you then you went down! I think it was from that crit you took earlier. It did a lot more damage than we thought."

"How are you feeling?" Joker asked in a soft tone. It made him feel... something. Something unfamiliar and unwanted.

"I'm fine." His voice was much colder than it should have been. Immediately he regretted breaking character. He hoped that maybe they would overlook it.

"Why didn't you tell anyone something was wrong?" Panther looked at him with the same pity from before. It made his skin crawl. "You could have died!"

"Crow," Queen gave him a serious look. "I understand that you might not trust us, but we're all on the same team right now." Her expression softened. "You can count on us."

Akechi felt an odd mix of anger and bewilderment. How could anyone be so trusting of someone who had blackmailed them less than a month ago? How could all of them be so stupid as to blindly trust him so easily? It didn't make sense. He had expected some resistance once he was part of the group but there was nothing. It made him angry but he didn't even know why. Their trust meant his plan was working so why wasn't he happy about it?

"I think we should head back." Joker looked at Akechi as he said it. Akechi had to suppress the glare he wanted to give him. He wanted to say something to protest but it probably wouldn't help anything. He had nearly died countless times but this was the first time it had happened around the Phantom Thieves.

"That would probably be for the best." He wanted to salvage what he could of his act.

In the days following his metaverse incident, none of the Phantom Thieves had contacted Akechi. It left him with spare time to think about what had happened. Takamaki had been right, he could have died. Whatever that attack did, it caused an internal injury that he wouldn't have noticed until too late if he was alone. Hell, even if he did notice something like that on time, it wasn't like he had any healing skills. If not for the Phantom Thieves... Well, that was something better left untouched. There was no room for "what ifs" especially since he was doing just fine now.

A text from Akira broke the long silence. An invitation to hang out with just the two of them. No Phantom Thief business, just them as regular people. Akechi knew he shouldn't. He was already showing too much vulnerability around them, his near death experience was proof enough of that, he didn't need to be getting attached to the boy he was supposed to be killing in a few weeks. Still, Akechi found himself accepting the invitation. Maybe he was more shaken than he thought from nearly dying from a ruptured stomach or internal bleeding or whatever the hell had happened. Maybe he was getting too soft. Either way, a traitorous part of his mind was just happy that someone wanted him around. He could indulge, just this once.


End file.
